Hotel restaurants were once an afterthought. You checked in, dropped your bags and asked the concierge where to go for dinner. Not anymore.
Some of South Florida’s most exciting tables are now inside its most spectacular hotels, making the food as compelling as the ocean views. And because we live here, getting away doesn’t require a plane.
Starting in Palm Beach and following the coast to the Florida Keys, this culinary road trip can be dinner close to home, an indulgent overnight or a few days spent eating your way south.
We’re driving past Miami—not because it doesn’t belong, but because you could spend three months eating there and still have reservations left to make. We’ll save that for another issue.
Palm Beach: A Fresh Taste of an Icon
Begin at The Breakers Palm Beach, an icon that has spent nearly 130 years proving timeless doesn’t mean standing still.
At Seafood Bar, Atlantic views and an aquarium bar compete for attention, but the must-order is the jumbo lump crab cake with chive remoulade. Executive Chef of Restaurants Anthony Sicignano says the recipe hasn’t changed since opening, and some guests fly to Palm Beach just for it.
The refreshed Lobby Bar feels decidedly European, with a 1,800-square-foot glass conservatory framed in green latticework overlooking the restored Mediterranean Courtyard. Settle in for a cocktail and the personal-sized coconut cake—worth every calorie.
Reserved for hotel guests and club members, the redesigned Beach Club Restaurant channels the Italian Riviera following a $15 million renovation. Favorites include the chicken Milanese sandwich with Parmesan aioli and doppio ravioli with butternut squash and lemon ricotta.
Delray Beach: A Rare Experience, Well Done
Continue south to The Seagate Hotel, Golf & Beach Club, Autograph Collection, where Bourbon Steak brings chef Michael Mina’s award-winning steakhouse concept to Atlantic Avenue.
Begin with Mina’s signature duck-fat fries and three dipping sauces. Follow with tableside tuna tartare with quail egg, Asian pear, pine nuts and habanero-sesame oil, then choose from American and Japanese Wagyu steaks cooked over oak and cherrywood flames.
After dinner, stroll Atlantic Avenue. The next morning, explore the private beach club and sip cocktails oceanside.
Boca Raton: The Grande Dame’s Next Chapter
Drive south to The Boca Raton, marking its centennial this year. Opened in 1926 as Addison Mizner’s Cloister Inn, the resort is celebrating its past while reimagining the historic Cloister for its next century.
At Japanese Bocce Club, start with the shredded iceberg lettuce salad—if you know, you know—then order steamed lobster dumplings, spicy tuna crispy rice or lobster chili noodles. For an over-the-top bite, try crispy tempura chicken crowned with Osetra caviar.
The resort’s most extraordinary culinary experience may be Flybridge, which earned a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating in 2026. Executive Chef Peter Annewanter brings more than 25 years of fine-dining and Michelin-starred experience.
Guests create a three- or five-course experience from coastal and vegetarian menus. The bread service alone is worth the visit: warm artisan bread with three butters and six salts from around the world.
Standouts include escargot ravioli with wild garlic, black truffle and beurre blanc; steelhead trout with radish, passion fruit, kefir and citrus; and teres major steak with polenta, red cabbage and morel demi-glace.
After dinner, your personalized menu is rolled into a scroll and presented with black salt in a gift bag. Flybridge is open to non-hotel and non-club guests, but add Spa Palmera, the pools and private beach, and dinner easily becomes a weekend.
Fort Lauderdale: A Michelin-Starred Escape
Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Fort Lauderdale is our next home base, anchored by Michelin-starred MAASS from chef Ryan Ratino.
The seasonal menu plays with classics, from foie gras “Nutter Butter” with peanuts and Concord grape to brioche-stuffed Amish chicken with caramelized endive, sweet potato and Carolina Gold “barbecue” jus.
Upstairs at Michelin-recommended Evelyn’s, Chef Brandon Salomon blends Eastern Mediterranean flavors with South Florida ingredients. Think local burrata with confit fennel, blood orange, Aleppo chili crisps and pine nuts, or Florida swordfish with mango Israeli salad.
For a nightcap, try the jallab-inspired Orchid Room with vodka, date molasses, rose water and pine nuts, or Two Left Feet with extra añejo tequila, Baharat bitters and oak smoke.
Then enjoy knowing the elevator—not an Uber—is your ride home.
Sunny Isles: A Passport to the Mediterranean
At Acqualina Resort & Residences, Mediterranean architecture, grand fountains and the Atlantic evoke a European seaside escape.
Cross the sky bridge to Avra Miami for signature Avra Chips—paper-thin zucchini and eggplant with tzatziki—and grilled halloumi with honey. Choose a whole fish from the ice display to be charcoal-grilled, deboned tableside and finished with ladolemono.
At Ke-uH, try the Bonzai Truffle Roll with tuna, avocado, cucumber and truffle oil, or Spicy Honey Shrimp with jalapeño aioli.
Il Mulino New York serves old-school Italian hospitality alongside ravioli ai porcini with black truffle and champagne cream, veal osso buco over saffron risotto and tableside pasta.
Greece, Japan and Italy—all without leaving the resort.
Islamorada: Island Flavors at Cheeca
Eventually, the high-rises disappear and water appears on both sides of the road.
At Cheeca Lodge & Spa, Atlantic’s Edge brings Caribbean and Florida Keys flavors to its oceanfront setting. Try the signature lobster grilled cheese with local warm-water lobster, Key lime remoulade and Brie, or the crispy rice topped with yellowfin tuna, avocado, shaved black truffle and wasabi aioli at Nikai.
Little Palm Island: Paradise Found
Leave the car behind for a short boat ride to Little Palm Island Resort & Spa, an adults-only private island that feels far removed from Florida.
At The Dining Room, the modern tropical menu changes daily, with recurring favorites including fall-off-the-bone short ribs over cheddar grits and sweet corn ravioli crowned with caviar.
Dinner unfolds beside the water beneath swaying palms, with white tablecloths, tropical air and the realization that you reached paradise without setting foot inside an airport.
Some of South Florida’s most exciting tables are now inside its most spectacular hotels, making the food as compelling as the ocean views.